Rollers vs. Trainer
 

Should I buy rollers or instead get an indoor trainer? Best rollers/trainer under $200?

Thx, Ari

Do you know you can ride rollers? It is not automatic.

Rollers. Anyone can ride them.

Haven't tried. But willing to learn.

fify

The Performance rollers are under $200 and seem to get ridiculously consistent reviews. Been thinking about buying them myself, but like you, I have been debating whether rollers are worth it.

15-30 minutes plus a doorway equals roller user. Get one with a mag unit and you'll be able to do almost anything except out of the saddle sprints.

Both have their role. Trainer for intervals. Rollers to maintain base and improve pedal stroke. So it depends on your goals.

Personally, I prefer rollers but I suggest you use "advanced search" and see the other threads. The basic search in BF sucks but advanced actually works.

Not so much. There is not anything that everyone can do. I wouldn't even try. No reason. But others are different.

If you can learn to ride a bike you can learn to ride rollers.

Perhaps so, but you have to want to.

Captain Obvious upping his post count. You should be able to hit the all important 10K this week. Then start a thread about it haha

Both, but if I had to choose one, I'd pick rollers. I find them less boring, with the having to pay attention and all so you don't fall.

What's your budget?

I'm using a Wahoo KICKR with Trainer Road and it is really a phenomenal tool. Also have a set of cheap rollers from Performance. I use them for recovery rides.

The KICKR has an erg mode that basically forces you to hit power or hr numbers for a set amount of time. There's nothing like that on my rollers (though I know that Inside Ride was working on doing it with some sweet e-motion rollers).

Look up the model of rollers you're interested in buying and look at the watts required to spin at various speeds. You will likely see that the top end isn't too high, and you can't actually do 30 seconds or a minute all out. So no HIIT. VO2 max intervals may be possible, depending on your model and your fitness. Rollers are great for form sprints, because if your spin is too bouncy you will lose control. It forces you to be smooth. When I first started on rollers, I also found my core getting a nice workout, which didn't happen on the trainer.

tl;dr if you have the budget for it, get the top-end e-motion rollers with an erg mode (if they're out yet) or something like the Wahoo or Powerbeam, or some other trainer that is "smart" and can communicate with a computer to vary resistance via bluetooth.

If your budget is in the 100-200 range, it really depends what you want to train: your spin or your sprint.

If you have 200-400, you should get a cheap trainer and cheap rollers too, because it's nice to switch between them.

Two more things on rollers:

1. of course you can ride them.
2. if you want more resistance, let a little air out of your tires. makes a huge difference.

Which one is better for each?

You live in LA, save your money and ride outside.

I use rollers with a fluid resistance unit. A VO2max interval on this set for me, seated, is about 25 mph. Other units may be different. A set of Sportcrafters magnetic rollers hits 350 watts at 25 mph and 800 watts at 40 mph. Anyway, I wouldn't buy rollers without resistance. Use is too limited. So for really cheap, I'd go for the insanely boring trainer. At least you can do some efforts on it. But for real, I can only recommend rollers with resistance. I have about 15,000 miles on my set, so I've been well compensated for whatever I paid for them.

https://www.sportcrafters.com/blog/t...ve-pro-rollers

I have never owned a trainer. Bought Nashbar rollers back in the '80's and am still using them. I don't know if everyone can ride rollers but, if you can, you will become smoother and more efficient. To my point: I recently had a professional fitting with state of the art equipment. After pedaling for awhile the fitter (my friend and LBS owner, Steve) said that he had been monitoring my pedal efficiency. He said that a recreational rider who hits 70% efficiency is doing really well. He then said that I was at 85% and there was no imbalance in leg efficiency. He seemed taken aback saying that being that balanced for a recreational rider is very unusual. Bear in mind I'm a 68 yr. old ex-college football player who clearly does not have a cyclist body and only began cycling at age 40. Steve seemed baffled. Finally he asked, "How can you do that?" I said, "The only thing I can think of is that I've never had a trainer. Bought a set of rollers when I first started riding and have used them ever since." He looked at me with a smile and said, "Of course." Point is I'm not an ex-racer or even much more than a B+ rider. So, if rollers can help me I'd say they are a good thing for anyone.

Rollers work your spin; trainers will allow you to sprint, stand up, and turn a big gear, all of which can't be done on the rollers.

Good advice.

Not much to add here except to say learning to ride on rollers is not as daunting a task as you might suspect. I bought myself a cheap set of rollers from Bike Nashbar for Xmas, and was up and riding after about five minutes of trial and error. Can't make an omelette yet, but I'm working on it.

http://youtu.be/ybFvomdhW2Y

Incorrect. You can get out of the saddle on rollers and push a big gear, it actually helps you smooth your pedal stroke since obviously you can't throw the bike around.

I have Sportcrafters rollers with their progressive resistance drum, and I routinely knock out 700-800 watt sprints on my rollers (although a full all-out sprint on the road is more like 1000- 1050 W for me).

VO2Max intervals are definitely no problem, beyond the intervals inherent strain

If it's a budget toss up between rollers and a cheap trainer, go with the rollers. Rollers will give you better bike handling skills and a decent core workout compared to a trainer. A cheap trainer will not hold up for very long either. I bought my rollers second hand and used them for a few years. I just pulled them back out for the winter and regret not using them all summer to compliment my riding.

Oh, and my bearings were shot but after a visit to Fastenel and $9 later, they are like new again. Mine do have a resistance unit which I originally removed but have now put back on.